I hate to lose time on the set. On the set, you have to go at a good pace, because the clock is your master. For that reason, I have to know exactly what I’m trying to get beforehand.

When critics love your film, you love critics. When they hate your film, you hate critics. It’s the same everywhere, but maybe especially in France, where we have pretty good critics, except for three or four newspapers that are really dogmatic.

I’ve never made any concessions, so I am 100% responsible for my films. This makes me feel very proud.

In France, it’s very suspect when you have a success.

I write scripts by myself. It’s not for everybody. It’s someone’s personal work. I need to be in love with the subject.

I think we’re entering a new period of filmmaking that’s analogous to switching from black-and-white to color, or from silent to sound. The medium is completely flexible, and it’s not bound by anything. If you imagine something, you can do it.

When you speak about generosity, about something good we have inside ourselves, you’re speaking to the majority.

If you make the right choice in casting, your work is nearly done already. You don’t have to spend a lot of time directing the actors, because they’re so well suited to the parts.

I’m very slow, and I do everything myself. I remember I spent three days to change the size of something I had sketched because I felt it was too small.

It’s always been pretty easy for me to exercise my imagination. The other part of the brain, the one that does mathematics, is a nightmare for me. It doesn’t work at all.